North Star drug policy

May 11, 2003

To the editor:

I am submitting this letter in response to my stand on the proposed Drug Testing Policy of the North Star School District for High School students participating in extra curricular activities and students driving to school.

As a School Board member who has taken a negative stand of the controversial policy, I feel it necessary to provide an explanation of my reasons for opposing it.

First I cannot morally support a policy which I strongly believe is an infringement on our Constitutional Rights - those our forefathers paid dearly to provide us. After serving in Vietnam with the United States Army and later serving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for 25 years with the Pennsylvania State Police, I learned how precious our rights of speech, worship, choice, privacy and due process are compared to Socialist societies around the world.

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Every so often in today's society, governments on the local, state and federal levels are taking away small portions of these freedoms and controlling many aspects of our daily lives for "our so-called self protection."

These infringements are found in gun control legislation, health care services, zoning and building codes and even matters concerning the care of your children.

This policy clearly is another example of an infringement on citizens' rights by denying a child the opportunity to participate in a school activity unless he relinquishes his right from unreasonable search and seizure by volunteering to a drug test and self incrimination if found positive.

A good example of this thinking is "proving your innocence of a crime" rather than being " innocent until proven guilty" as required by the Constitution. Someday we may wake up and find that we have ignored this "chipping away of our rights" to the point we no longer have a Constitution but a socialist state run by the government and not the people.

As a public official I could never compromise my loyalty to the Constitution and what it stands for and vote for a policy that I felt was restricting those very rights.

Secondly I understand the financial situation facing our schools and the burden that is placed on the tax paying residents of the district. We are constantly being reminded at our budget meetings that finances and positive balances are continually being diminished. We are given suggestions of how to cut staff and educational programs to prevent a debit balance for the coming year.

Drug testing will not come without a financial burden. Tests and repeated tests, as designed in the policy, will be expensive, not to mention the added cost of keeping records and staffing. I am very reluctant to impose a tax increase on the already burdened taxpayer in this district to finance a program of this nature when the police and court systems are already in place and have been providing this service for many years.

Your taxes pay for this service through the Municipal and state government assessments. The school district has access to these services if they would be sought by the administrators when infractions are identified.

Thirdly, I believe that matters such as these are best addressed by the parents of the children. Our schools are in the business of providing a solid education which prepares our children for future careers. Our job is not to raise these children in lieu of the parents and our administrators and teachers are not trained to be police officers.

You surely would not expect a biology teacher to perform brain surgery on your child as you should not expect them to determine guilt or innocence of your child in a criminal matter unless they were part of a jury in a qualified court.

When the administration advertised a public forum on the drug policy only about two dozen parents showed up. Where were the other couple of hundred parents? Obviously they were content to allow so few to determine the fate of their child's future and definitely their remaining years at North Star.

I challenge every parent in the North Star School District to seek a copy of the entire drug policy and read it. If you are satisfied with the policy then let it go but if you are not, let the district or board members know your feelings before it is too late and it becomes policy.

I was elected to this office as your representative to make decisions on matters that will effect your child's education and also direct how your tax dollars are spent to accomplish this. I feel that I would be remiss in my duties by not informing you of pending actions of this magnitude which may greatly affect your child's future participation at North Star.